Rowing apparatus



A. W. F. BENNIK.

ROWING APPARATUS. PLICATION F|LED AUG.II,."I92I.

' Patented D60. 12, 1922.

5 SHEETSSHEET I- I AWFEenWI/f 3 7 m W irt A. W. F BENNIK.

ROWING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED AUG.1I, 1921.

1,438,688, Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

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Inre 777211;

,4. VHF .156 1777/1 A. W. F. BENNIK. ROWING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILEDAUGJI, 1921.

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A. W. F. BENNIK, RDWING APPARATUS. APPLICATIUN FILED AUGIH, 1921. 1,438,688, Patented Dec. 12, 1922.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4. 18

ALM 53217717? 4%rne w. F. BENNIK. ROWING APPARATUS. APPLICATIQN FILED AUGKIII 192].

1,438,688. Patentd Dec.12,1922.

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ARIE WILLEll/l FREDEBIK BENNIK, F IDELIET, NETHERLANDS.

. ROWING APPARATUS.

Atpplieation filed August 11, 1921. Serial No. 491,571.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern. Figs. 6 and '7 are side elevational views Be it known that lam WILLnM l nnnnsimilar to Figs. 2 and 4 of further modifica inn BENNII; a. subject of the Queen of the tions of the invention. 7

Netherlands, residing at Delft, Netherlands, Fig. 8 is a view similar to views 1 and 3 5 have invented certain new and useful lmof still another modification. 60

provements in Rowing Apparatus, of: which F 1g. 9 s a hor zontal sect1onal view, lookthe following is aspecification. ing from below, taken on the line 9-9 of Rowing in the ordinary manner, vithout Fig. 8, illustrating the means for turning a Coxswain, is tiring because the rower has the paddles on their own axes.

10 to turn round every time in order to find Fig-10 is a view similar to Fig. 9 showing 65 whether there is any obstacle in his path. a slight modification of the means for turn- Paddling on tne other hand, offers the adin}; thepaddles on their own axes. vantage that one can always see what is in Figs. ll and 12 are side elevational views, :lront, though this method of progression is similar to Figs. 2. 4, 6 and 7 of further modi- 15 nevertheless attended with the drawback fications. 70 that a considerable twist must be given to Referring to Figsl and 2, in the left half the body at each stroke, in order to force the of Fig. l the rowingapparatus isshown in paddle through the water. Moreover, both its highest position, and in the right half rowing and paddling have the defect that of said figure in its lowest position.

the oars, or paddle must be lifted out of the The boat 1 is fitted with a mast 2, having 75 water at each stroke and held onthe balance a slight rake aft, which is kept in the upwhich is exhausting in the long run. A still right position by a stay 8 extending from 'lurther serious defect attaching to rowing-. the truck of the mast to the bow. Thisstay and also, though in a minor degree to padpasses over a pulley on the bow and backdlingis the fact that the propelling imward to the thwart, so that the rower can 80 plements necessarily project a comparatively easily strike the mast. For boats intended longdistance on both sides of the boat. to be manned by two or more rowers, a cor- The object of the present invention isto responding number of masts can be proremove the said drawbacks. The new arvided, which areconnccted bya continuous rangementfor this purpose consists of a supstay and thus adapted to be struck simulta- 5 porting frame suspended from a mastor neously. derrick on the boat, and adapted to be drawn The mast 2 carries the ro'wing apparatus down against the action of a resilient body proper. To its upper end is seoured'a short or nembers or counterweight, the said frame horizontal arm 4; on both ends of wiich is being connected to vertically suspended pa dsuspended a longer rod 5, projecting on dies, on both sides of the boat, in such. a maneither side of the boat and supported by ner that these can be moved foreand aft in rubber belts e (which night be replaced by an approximately vertical position parallel helical springs). Ste ns? of vertically susto the plane of symmetry of the boat. pended paddles 8 are attached in an easily 40 The invention. illustrated in the acoomdetachable manner to the ends of ihe rod 5 panying drawing, in which' thesaid stems being connected, lower down, Fig. 1 represents a transverse sectional to two handles 10 by means of a cross-hart). view of a boat, taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2, The cross-bar 9 is connected to the stems in equipped with my novel rowing. apparatus. such a way as to be easily detached. 15 Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the boat and In the position otfrest the paddles rowing apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1, the held up equidistant above the. water by fore and aft portions of the boat being means of the belts 6. The rower seated in broken away. i the boat andiacino; forward. takes l-old o Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Figs. 1 the two handles 10, moving them viorward .50 and 2 of a modified form of the invention, and then pulling; them downwards and rear- Fig. 3 being a transverse sectional View wards against the action ofthe rubber belts taken on the line 33 of Fig. l. 6. so that the paddles are dipped into and Fig. 5 is horizontal sectional View taken pulled through the water, whereupon they on line 5--5 of Fig. 14 and illustrating the are againlifted from the water by an up- 55 tru ture of th addl ward. movement. This last movement nits H0 no strain on the rower, being effected autoloosening the connections between the rods 6 and 9 and the stems 7 the wholefapparatus can betaken apart in a few seconds, and,

when unshipped, stored in the boat The,

whole device being adapted to be con structed almost entirely of wood, it can he very light. An lmportant polnt is that the boat does. not have to be fitted with any rowlocks oroutriggers for the oars, and

that the paddles can hang down so close to the boat on either side that the boat can be propelled without diiiiculty, even through very narrow channels.

Figures 3 and 4:,illustrate respectively in section 3 3 and in side elevation, a modification of theinvention.- cross-bar 5 is suspended from themast 2 by a chain, 11 and carries on both sides, verticallydepending guides 12to'r guiding shoes 13' to which the stems 7 of the paddles 8 are attached. The two shoes 18 are coupled together by a crossbar 9, with handles 10,

the said cross-bar being suspended by rubber belts 6 from thehar 5. Athin cord or cable leserves to prevent the apparatus from inconvenient swaying. In this case again, the highest position of the paddles is represented on the left, and the lowest position on the right of Figure 3.

. The paddle (see Figure 5, which represents a section on the line 55 in Figure 4) is composed, in this case, of two plates 15 diverging in V shaped form in the rearward direction and secured to stems 7 each of which is also provided with two parallel plates 16 extending in a forward direction.

-T he stem 7, however, extends only part way down the plates'15, 16 so thatduring the backward movement of the paddles through the water, the latter can. flow under the stems 7 and escapetowards the front be tween the plates 16, so that the paddles can be drawnthrough the water in a straight line. It is obvious thatthe special'form of paddle illustrated in Fig. 5 may be used in H any or all of the various forms of the inrepresents a side elevation, the cross-bar 5 ,vention illustrated.

- In theform according to Figurefi, which carrying the paddles 8 is suspendedfrom a rope 17. pass1ng over a pulley 18 at the a top of the mast 2 and looping round a pul ley 19. The pulley .18 is pivoted on a lever In this case the I Figure 8. are pivotally mounted on their own (that is on the axial line of their stems 7 20, adapted to pivot on the mast 2 at 21 and carrying a sliding weight 22. By means of the weight 22 the two paddles with their connecting bars etc, can be counterbalanced. Theworking of this device requires no further explanation, beyond mentioning that it is easier, in this case than in the forms already described to move the one paddle more deeply through the water than the other and that no appreciable effort is reuired in lowerin and raising the paddles 8. t) 1 a L Figure 7 shows how the paddles can be suspended from one end of a beam 23 pivoted on the mast 2 the other end of said.

beam being attached, by means of a rope, cord or cable 24 to a spring 25 secured in the bottom of the boat. If the lever-arm connected to the spring 25 he made shorter than the other, a comparatively short spring 1 i will suflice.

Figure. 8 represents a front elevation (with the boat in section) of a modification in which the paddles can be swung, by means of the handles 10 about their own axis, so that they have practically no resistance to overcome in their movement through the air. 7

Figure 9 is a section on the line 99 of The paddles 8 (see Figure 8) on the frame 5,9, which is suspended from the mast 2 by means of a rope 17 and pul- The counterweight balancing the. frame and paddles is not shown in this case.

ley 18.

The two handles 10, are rotatahly mounted on their own axes, in the frame and each carries a fixed pulley 26, smaller pulleys 27 being mounted on each of the stems 7 at the same height. The two pulleys on the left han'das also those on the right are connected together by endless bolts 28 v (see also Figure 9) which, in turn, are connected together by a helical spring 29. The belts are prevented from slipping on the pulleys by small radial pegs 30 on the pulleys'eir gaging in holes in the belts. I

The device is so arranged that the spring 29 keeps the moving paddles parallel to the symmetrical line of the boat. Before drawing the paddles rearward through the water, the handles 10 are turned on their axes so that the planeof the paddles lies transverse to the directionof motion. When the paddles are lifted at the end of the stroke, all that is necessary is to allow the handles 10 to rotate, so that the spring 29 at once turns the planes of the paddles parallel to the symmetrical Figure 10 shows howthe pulleys 26, 27 on 7 plane and thus causes them to feather. 1

the left and right can also be coupled together by means of a common endless belt.

No spring is shown. in this case, since in this arrangement helical springs which pro- 1 assess duce the desired effect, can be arranged for example, round the stems 7 or handles 10. It is obvious that the means for turning the paddles on their own aXes illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10 may be used in any or all of the various forms of the invention illustrated.

In order to prevent the paddles from turning on their own axis, all that is required is to tighten two screws 32 in the frame, thus locking the stems, the spring 29 being disconnected if necessary.

Figure 8 also shows loops 31 attached to the stems 7 and intended for the attachment (if desired) of lines, ropes, cord or the equivalent arranged longitudinally, by means of which several rowers seated on diii erent thwarts can pull one and the same pair oi paddles through the water.

Figures 11 and 12 show two further constructional forms of the invention. According to Figure 11 the outrigger or carrying frame which is balanced by the weight 22 is provided with an extension rod 33 whose upper end is connected by a stay rod 34 with the mast 2. This connection essentially facilitates the correct movement of the paddle through the water. The outrigger or carrying frame 5. 9, is rotatable relatively to the rod 33 in a plane at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the boat, whereby one paddle can be wetted to a greater ex tent than the other paddle.

According to Figure 12 the outrigger or carrying frame 5, 9, is connected with a longitudinally arranged rod 36 the forward end of which is suspended by a rod 37 from a stay 3. A rod 38 is provided to brace the rod 36 relatively to the :trame5, 9.

The rod 36 is rotatable in a horizontal plane relatively to the frame 5, 9; the hinge or joint hereinbefore described is not shown in the drawing.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is 1. Rowing apparatus, comprising a mast adapted to be attached to a boat, and a pair of paddles suspended from said mast by yielding means permitting said paddles to be manually moved downwardly and fore and aft, said yielding means constituting; counterbalancing means for said paddles and tending to move them to raised position when released from downward pull.

2. Rowing apparatus, comprising a mast adapted to be attached to a boat, a bar adapted to extend transversely of said boat and a pair of paddles attached to the opposite ends of said bar, saidlbar being suspended from said mast by yielding means permitting said paddles to be manually moved downwardly and fore and aft, said yielding means normally counter-balancing said paddles in a raised position of the latter and tending to restore them to said raised position when released from down ward pull.

3. Rowing apparatus as set forth in claim 1, comprising a pair of handles whereby to manually move said paddles, said handles being operatively connected to said paddles in such manner that the latter can be turned on their own axes by means of said handlesture.

ARIE WILLEM FREDERIK BENNIK. 

